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According to research by insurance broker, Gallagher, 72 per cent of respondents admitted they felt pressure to set the targets without being sure on how they were going to reach them.
Gallagher’s study consisted of 600 senior leaders at UK companies that had more than 500 employees.
Over half believe legal action over missed ESG targets is far more likely now than it was 10 years ago.
This comes after the rise of shareholder activism groups such as ClientEarth that have been filing lawsuits against several companies including energy giant Shell. It was also reported by City A.M. back in December that the majority of London litigation lawyers in a survey, envisaged an increase in ESG claims over 2024.
Although there are concerns around the consequences of missing ESG targets, Gallagher reports that the majority leaders say they will be able to achieve them, with 49 per cent ‘very confident’ and 44 per cent ‘somewhat confident’.
The top five ESG targets respondents told Gallagher’s they are most concerned about missing are: shifting to renewable energy sources (17 per cent), net zero targets (16 per cent), bridging the gap between executive remuneration and lowest wage (14 per cent).